


The Mission

by Saradi



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Fluffy, Here for Dadron, Theron Shan as a Dad, dad!Theron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24050614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saradi/pseuds/Saradi
Summary: Alex Shan is home for the holidays.  With homework.
Relationships: Female Jedi Knight | Hero of Tython/Theron Shan
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Theron

“Hey, Dad?” I was concentrating deeply on a report, but had no trouble breaking off to focus on the boy who sat next to me on the couch.

“Hey, Al,” I said. My son, Alex. Ten years old, just home for the Life Day holidays. He had probably grown another foot since I last saw him when I was at the Academy a month ago, working on a project with my mother, Grandmaster Satele Shan.

“So, you know how you have to do projects sometimes?” He began. He inherited my way of building up to the main story. It wasn’t beating around the bush. It was explaining.

“Yeah, sure. Are you working on one?”

“Yeah. There are these relics that are near the Temple of Healing on a planet called Voss.” His explanation indicated he was taking this very seriously. “We are supposed to go find one. My teacher said we might have to deal with people or animals that don’t want us to get one, though. We can bring back-up. I was hoping you would be my backup.”

This kid... He could pretty much ask any one of a number of family friends – some of whom were incidentally galactic heroes – but he picked his Old Man.

Be his backup. He was so serious about this training mission. I would treat it with equal seriousness, even though I knew it was probably a couple of bugs in a dusty part of the sacristy and a relic or two placed there for training. 

“Sure, son. When are we doing this mission?” And where did I put my combat blasters? Storage? Hm. Maybe the garage.

“What mission?” Cait asked, walking into the room. His mother – the Jedi Grandmaster and Republic Senator Caitrienne Solis-Shan, ladies and gentlemen. My wife.

“It’s for my combat class. We have to go get a thing near the Temple and bring it back. We have to do it as homework before we go back to classes after Life Day. If we bring a vid of getting it, that’s extra credit.”

Cait nodded. Been there, done that, knew the drill. 

“Do you know how to get there, Dad?” He asked me, looking at me with Cait’s blue eyes. 

Cait stifled a smile.

“Yeah, been there a time or two. I think I can remember where it is. But, maybe for extra credit, we can look over the star maps and you can help plot our course. Your teacher might think that showed some initiative.” Stars. I sounded like someone’s dad.

Voss was the home of one of the largest battles in the Eternal Empire Wars. We’d fought hard for that chunk of rock – I wouldn’t soon forget it. Things were back to normal – a gentle pace, just perfect for a young padawan on a first mission.

He smiled. “OK! I’m going over to Rob’s house. I’ll be back for dinner – just ping me. Oh, plus..Mom, would you spar with me later?"

"We're going to have to get you a haircut before you go back. You're starting to look like a Wookie on vacation." I called after him. Wow. I was totally turning into someone's dad. 

He laughed as he got up and ran out of the room. "I'm not cutting my hair, dad!" he said. He had the same hair my dad and I shared - coarse, with a fierce curl to it. He wore it in short dreadlocks pulled up on his head. It looked good on him, but I always ribbed him about it.

‘Pinging’ him meant sending for him down a thread of the Force – the way he and his mother communicated since he was a baby.

"So can I book the massage in advance? He is probably going to kick my ass." Cait groaned.

"The staff will drop whatever they are doing to assist our best customer." I said, grinning.

Alex’s childhood had been eventful. He’d been literally stolen out of his mother’s womb to be brought up on Zakuul by the Empress Vaylin. Ex-empress, I should say, since she was dead.

He was our only child, we hadn’t had the gift of any others. Cait didn’t know I knew, but she had been to specialists to see if her imprisonment in and subsequent carbonite poisoning had ruined her chances of another child. Records aren’t that hard to find. Before you say anything - I don't spy on her. But in my normal work on the holonet, if I see any of my family's names pop up in unexpected places, that raises a red flag and of course I look.

It saddened me that she was going through this alone. After Life Day, I will tell her I know, and that I very much wanted to deal with it together. If she wanted another child, I was completely onboard. The one we had was pretty great. Maybe a girl, though. Hell, I didn’t care. We’d figure it out.

Maybe it wasn't her. Maybe it was me. We had gotten pregnant with Alex after being together once..it wasn't like we couldn't. Something just needed recalibration somewhere.

“You know..Theron..” she said, interrupting my mental discussion I was having with myself and the list-making for the trip. “I’m not so sure you are the best choice to be Companion for this mission.”

“What? Why?” I asked, surprised she thought so. I was pretty handy to have around, I thought.

“I won't argue that you in all that leather armor with those blasters you clearly know how to use isn't sexy as hell. However, in this case Scourge might be a better choice.”

“SCOURGE??” I said, probably a little louder than I meant to. What was wrong with me going?

“It’s just that one of the reasons for the exercise is to experience getting hurt. Physically. If he had chosen a companion, say, from his class – or been assigned someone – the chance he’d come back with a few bruises would be pretty high. He needs to be able to fail, and you won’t let him. ”

“But I…” I began.

“You are just that good.” She said. Oh I get it. Let’s punch me in the gut then flatter my ego. Plus, those blue eyes. Mother and Son pretty much got away with whatever they wanted when they used those to effect. And they knew it. And so did I.

“Do you think you’d be able to stand by and let him take a bite to the arm from one of those spiders that he doesn’t block quick enough, or a bruise he gets from one of the temple attendants that hits him when he can’t duck fast enough?”

“Well, sure, but..” 

“If he doesn’t experience things like that when he’s young, when the stakes are high for him, but not high in the grand scheme of things, when he meets a Valkorian or a Vaylin later on, he’ll be out of luck. He’s going to have to choose his first path soon…even though you and I both know he’s been a Guardian since we met him.”

Also, I was his secret weapon. I’m not Force sensitive myself, but everyone around me seems to be. Cait and Lana had determined I was a Force amplifier. For some reason, a team with me on it made a Force user more able to pull what they needed out of the…well…the Force. 

We keep that on the down-low though. We noticed the phenomenon the day we broke into the Summer Palace on Zakuul to get Alex back from having been stolen from us. He was able to use a Force shout that made rubble out of about 30 battledroids. In the vid, you can see him putting his hand on my chest. At the time, I thought it was just his super cute baby way of saying ‘stand back, I got this’. But later we determined he was using me as a Force anchor, which allowed him to basically save us. At sixteen months old.

But, crap. She was right. I’d have to stand back and let him fall if that was what he was going to do. One of the many thousands of reasons I loved her so was because she didn’t go on about being right. She went on to the next thing.

“Just ask yourself if you can sit back and delay your normally quick reflexes to get in and help him at that level. Let him take ten minutes to slice into a computer that would take you three seconds to do. And if you can pick him up and dust him off afterwards.”

“Picked you up and dusted you off enough times,” I said. Was I pouting? Nah. ..was I?

“Yes you have. And look at how much character that built.” Her eyes were twinkling.

“You’re a character, alright,” I said, grabbing her and pulling her down on the sofa to kiss her.

Ok, so. I’d let my ten year old son Lead the Mission, and would help only if asked. Honestly? This was going to be harder than one of the more difficult Operations Cait, Havoc Squad and any number of Grandmaster/Dark Council Force users and I have run in the past. Put together. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but not by much.

But I’m not going to pass up this chance for all the drinks on Nar Shadaa. In case you are new to this: that’s a lot of drinks.


	2. Chapter 2

THERON

“Welcome, Padawan Shan,” Sana-Rae said. “We are honored to have you on Voss.”  
  
“Thank you, Matriarch.” Alex said, bowing. “This is my technical advisor Agent Shan.”

“Agent Shan,” she said, greeting me with a formal bow. But I could see her amusement. The Voss and Sana-Rae specifically had been members of the Alliance. We were old friends.

Plus, Technical Advisor. That was awesome.

“We have quarters set aside for your stay, should you like them. Or do you plan to stay on your ship?”

Alex turned and looked at me. He clearly hadn’t considered this. 

“I’m not even here.” I said, putting my hands up. This was my standard ‘I’m not making this decision’ remark when serving on missions.

He looked at Sana-Rae, but you could see him considering the options.

“We would be pleased to accept your hospitality.” He said. “My Companion and I would be honored to stay with the Voss.”

Just right, I thought proudly. 

The next day, Alex was up brighter and earlier than I was. I awoke to him taking stock of his gear and making sure we had water and a snack. He was letting me sleep because "a Jedi takes care of their companion." At least he didn't add "plus, you are old."

We took a shuttle to the Temple of Life. Sana-Rae had explained to me quietly that it was an exercise that was set up by the Temple for the Padawans. There were relics and possible deterrents to obtaining them, but it was in a controlled environment. Cause for injury or danger was low but had been known to happen. They did want to make it as realistic as possible given those parameters, though.

I showed Alex how to read the Temple map to find where we were going. Our destination was pretty far in, with lots of corridors that twisted and turned. I had a layout of the map that I could see in my right eye HUD interface, so I’d be backup if he got us lost.

He was nervous and excited. I could see him purposefully calming himself. The calming rituals came as second nature after you had done them enough times. I meditated with him while we were on the way. He knew the stories of my Jedi training.

We could see other Padawans and their teams at the entrance. Alex greeted a few with a terse nod. There was quite a mix of Companions, as well. Older Jedis still in the Academy and a collection of droids seemed to be the choice of many. 

There were a few parents along, and one had brought an even older guy than me – tough looking, carrying blasters that had clearly seen use. He nodded to me. I didn’t know who he was, but thanks to our Alliance work, my face was familiar in the Republic – and the Empire too, but for different reasons. That had kind of ended my spy career. Now I was more of a...well, a Technical Advisor. Smartass kid.

Alex was adjusting his practice sword – which was the only weapon they could use for now. We made sure he had the best equipment, even if it was a practice sword, but the one he carried now was given to Cait by my mother when she first came to the Academy. When he earned his lightsaber, he would have a lot of components to choose from when the time came to forge it. 

Cait and I had done pretty well financially over the years. We also sponsored an anonymous fund for classmates that couldn’t afford top of the line things. One way break attachment to material possessions was to never have to worry if you'd have what you needed or not. There were many ways to work for The Force. 

“Ok, I think we are ready.” Alex said. He sounded confident.

“Your call.” I said. He nodded.

We jogged down the long corridor into the Temple. Besides a few Padawans who were still doing the exercise, it appeared empty. We both knew it wasn’t, so were on alert.

A small spider ran straight for Alex and was dispatched before I could even pull a blaster. Good work, son.

After a few twists and turns, we entered a large high-ceilinged room – the main Temple floor. They had done quite a lot of restoration. The last time I was here, the roof was open to the sky by the Eternal Empire’s fleet bombing it and there was rubble everywhere. This truly was a beautiful building. 

“They should be here.” Alex said, but there was nothing to be found. I did a scan and didn’t see any of the signature energy that we’d been told was in the relics. 

“There are some more but I think they are down a floor.” He said.

I nodded. We looked for a way down. There didn’t seem to be one. 

“Here.” He said, looking at a blank wall. We searched and finally found the catch that caused the door to slip open silently.

There was a staircase that spiraled down. I still couldn’t see the signature of the relics.

“I can feel it.” Alex said. “It’s just down here, at the bottom of the stairs.”

We went down for quite a lot longer than I thought we would, and emerged in the corner of a dimly lit, but fairly large room. We had expected to find small bits of relics scattered around to be gathered, but there weren’t any here, either.

“Over here.” Alex said. He started moving toward a soft glow at the other end of the room. There was a flat stone tablet with carvings in a language I didn’t recognize laying on top of what looked like an altar. The room was bare otherwise.

“What is this? They said they would be smaller. That we should just bring a bag.” He reached out to touch the tablet.

One thing I do know from as many adventures as I’ve been on in my life and career: You don’t touch the softly glowing tablet that you don’t know what it is. Before I could say that, though, there was a deep roar that came from even further into the room, in the darkness past where we were.

Alex immediately had his practice sword in his hand. He pushed me back behind him, without even thinking about it. Of course this thing was between us and the stairs. Scratch that, it's tail just destroyed the doorway so the stairs were blocked. 

A huge..I don’t know what this was, but it was big, came slithering toward us. I could see Alex assessing and realizing this was bigger than anything he’d ever seen before. Probably too big for him. But he had me. Hell, this might be too big for me. Ok, here goes.

He Force pushed to stun the thing, and it didn’t really slow it down. I had my blasters out and started firing at it, trying to stay below the creature’s notice while Alex kept his attention. I can damage pretty badly if the thing isn’t all over me. I was also able to throw some kolto over Alex in case of scratches. 

Alex was forcing the monster back, trying to get him back away from me. One small part of my mind was impressed at what a good tank he was. He was Force stunning and pushing at the same time slowing the monster and making him less able to hit very hard. He was keeping between me and the thing, keeping me at a safe distance. Another small part was realizing this was my son…who was in danger. But the biggest part was reserved for getting us out of this alive.

“Dad, his neck. He’s got a soft spot there, see it?” Alex yelled at me.

“Yep, got it.” I yelled back and started hitting the creature there as hard as I could with blasters on ‘kill’. We were slowly wearing it down, it was losing a lot of health and was bleeding this awful, smelly blue blood all over everything. Alex was stepping in between blood puddles and keeping his footing gracefully, naturally. He wasn't even thinking about where he was stepping.

When I started firing a barrage of high energy bolts at the creature, he reached out and grabbed me by the chest. He threw me across the room and I landed hard against the altar. It knocked the wind out of me, and I was seeing stars - but I've had worse. Then it pushed me again, harder and I slammed into the altar again. That was the last thing I remember as everything went black around me.


	3. Chapter 3

CAIT

I really _was_ in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by Voss. Seriously. I was looking forward to meeting my two guys after their mission was complete though. 

“Would you like some tea, Senator?” Sana-Rae asked softly. 

“I would love some.” I said. “And to catch up with you. It has been awhile since we were in the same place for more than five minutes.”

Sana-Rae nodded. “There is a lovely teahouse just a short distance down the road. It has a view of the river. Let’s go there.”

We were seated at a very pleasant table outdoors. I took a deep breath of the clear air, and sat back, enjoying the sound of the water gently flowing by. The last time I’d seen Voss, it had been in ruins. They had worked so hard to put everything back together. It was stronger somehow even, than it was before.

The server arrived with tea and cakes on a tray and placed everything before us. The cups were pottery, delicately made, almost translucent they were so thin. I lifted my cup to my mouth, breathing in the soothing fragrance of the flowers used to make the tea.

“MAMA!!” I felt rather than heard the urgent yell. I dropped my cup and it shattered. I started moving instinctively.

Sana-Rae shook her head as if to clear it. “What was that?” she asked.

“You heard that?” 

“I think everyone on the planet who is Force sensitive did. They may have even heard it a couple of galaxies away.”

“Alex, what’s wrong?” I asked down the Force thread he’d yelled on. There was no reply. 

“It’s Alex. We need to get to the Temple. I don’t know what’s going on but something’s wrong. Theron?” I tapped my comms as I ran to the shuttle station just a few hundred meters away. Sana-Rae was right behind me, talking to someone on her comms.

No answer from Theron.

Oh no. 

The shuttle droid moved as fast as the vehicle was able to get us there. I was on my comms with the Jedi Instructors at the Temple, who had started moving in when they’d felt the shout.

I kept trying Theron and kept calling Alex down the Force thread. No answer.

There is no Emotion, there is Peace. There is no Light without the Dark. Through Serenity I gain Power.

I made myself calm and gathered strength.

When we got to the Temple, I didn’t even wait for the shuttle to stop before jumping out of it and running toward the Temple entrance. Sana-Rae was right behind me.

“Grandmaster, I’ve been left to meet you. We haven’t found them yet. We can’t sense either one.” An older Padawan met us at the entrance.

There is no Emotion there is Peace.

“Where was the exercise taking place?” 

“The main sacristy, the one that’s just been refurbished.”

I nodded and started running that direction. I remembered this place as if it were yesterday that I was last here. So many memories. I remembered the twists and turns of the corridors leading to the main hall. 

Jedi were spread and searching in the smaller rooms. What could have possibly gone wrong? This was a very straightforward…wait. There. I felt something, but very faint, just below me. 

“They are downstairs.” I said. “Just below us.”

“There is no 'below us'.” Sana Rae said. “This hall is built on the granite of the mountain.”

I shook my head. “No, they are here.” My eyes frantically searched the walls for any clues to an entrance or door. There. Another delay while we found the catch and the door creaked open.

A horrible din and even worse stench greeted us once we started down the circular stairwell. I was in the lead, so Force blasted the rubble that had blocked the stairway. My lightsaber was in my hand and engaged as my foot touched the floor of the chamber below. It took just a moment to adjust to the dim light.

My eye first went to an enormous…thing..in the middle of the floor – quite dead – and the source of the terrible smell. There was glowing blue fluid all over everything – presumably the creature’s blood, but I’d never seen this kind of thing before, so was only guessing.

Next my eye hit the grouping of my husband and son at what looked like an altarpiece. They were surrounded by small flying bat things, who were attacking. Theron was unconscious up against the altar. I couldn’t sense anything from him. 

Oh no..... please.

There is no Emotion there is only Peace.

I threw my lightsaber and took out a few of the things. The Jedi who had followed us down the stairs made fast work of the rest of them. Alex had a shield around both of them. He was kneeling with one hand on Theron’s shoulder. 

The shield, which should have been fairly thick, was now only a couple of millimeters over skin, indicating that Alex was so exhausted, the shield was failing. His right shoulder had deep, scored scratches and bite marks from where the shield was too thin to protect him – because he was focusing it on his companion, keeping his companion safe. 

“Alex.” I said gently and his eyes moved to look at me. He was dripping with sweat and had that horrible smelling blue blood all over him as well as his own. 

Sana-Rae said to him, “Padawan, he is safe. You can release the shield. Will you? So the healers can help you?”

I nodded at him and saw the force shield dissipate. Alex started to fall, but one of the Knights behind him caught him. Theron was out, but I could now see that he was breathing, although shallowly. It had been Alex's shield that had prevented me from sensing him. Interesting, but later. Two Jedi consulars started healing both man and boy and packaging them up to take the back to Voss-ka and to more comprehensive medical help. I sent a quick call to Doc, leaving him a message with what happened and asking for input.

“What the hell is that thing?” I asked Sana-Rae about the creature. 

“I have never seen one like it.” She said. “There are tales of Temple Guardians, but we thought we knew all of them and had appeased or released them.”

“Matriarch,” A Voss said. “Look at this. This is so old the substance won’t verify it.” She was examining the tablet on the altar. 

“We will leave everything just the way it is so it can be studied. The Senator and I are on our way back to Voss-ka.” 

Her comm link beeped and she spoke a few words into it.   
  
“Grandmaster Shan just arrived on planet.” She said. Then with a small smile “The other one.” 

We got in the shuttle for another fast trip back to the city.


	4. Chapter 4

CAIT

The shuttle got us back to Voss-ka in record time. We were behind the emergency shuttle that came to get both Theron and Alex and was thankfully moving very fast.

I did a quick breathing meditation to calm myself. They were alright. Theron just had a bump to the head, but he’s been through worse. Alex was safe, too. Right?

They were taken to treatment rooms at the healing center. Satele was already there, waiting for us. She had planned to be here for the end of the exercise and had walked into this.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know all the facts.” I said. “Alex is injured and unable to really tell us. Theron is still unconscious.” I told her what I had seen, and what it looked like happened.

“Once he’s been treated, we’ll talk to Alex.” She said. I nodded. A young Padawan brought us welcome cups of caf. I related the events to Satele from my perspective, but I couldn’t fill in any of the gaps.

Two of the Jedi who were at the Temple came into the waiting room. One of them, a tall muscular guy with a fresh face and clear green eyes spoke to Satele.

“Grandmaster, we’ve taken a look at what happened down there. No one on Voss has ever seen a creature like that. They are saying that it is ancient. They didn’t even know that room existed. Early dating of the relic that Padawan Shan found indicates that it’s millenia old. The Voss didn’t know it existed, either. They are very excited about its discovery.”

“It was a Temple guardian, they think?” I asked.

“Yes, Grandmaster. Honestly, none of us think we could have killed that thing. Somehow Padawan and Agent Shan downed it. Pretty impressive.”

“You can see the boy now.” An attendant said, walking gracefully into the room.

I nodded to the Jedi and thanked them. We followed her into one of the treatment rooms. Alex was sitting up, with his shoulder cleaned but unbandaged. 

“Dr. Kimball is on his way from Coruscant,” the healer said. “He asked that we not seal the wound till he could see it. He wants to take the treatment further so there is no infection.”

I nodded. 

“Alex,” I said and leaned down to kiss him.

“Mom, I…” Alex began. He was trying to keep from crying. He had been medicated to prevent the shoulder from hurting, but he was still upset.

“Padawan, I need your report.” Satele said, gently. I could see what she was doing. By taking this out of the family discussion and putting it into a professional perspective, she was helping Alex focus. 

“Yes Gram..Grandmaster,” he said. “So when we got to the place on the map, there weren’t any relics or anything to collect. We thought we were in the wrong place. I could feel that there was something below us and thought there was another room, so we found the door and went down the stairs. We found the thing on the altar and didn’t know what it was. If I hadn’t touched it, the creature wouldn’t have come to protect it.”

“Not necessarily.” I said. “Just being in the room may have called it.”

“What happened to Agent Shan?” Satele asked.

“The thing was really big and wasn’t listening to me very much. Da…Agent Shan was doing a lot of damage to it and I was trying to keep it away from him so he could. He's pretty good at combat. I didn't know he would be. He fired an energy bolt at it, and the thing turned to him and I couldn’t get him to turn back to me. It ignored me.”

Alex was becoming upset with the telling of the events, but I could see he was gamely trying to stay in control.

“Padawan, there is no emotion, there is only peace.” Satele said. “I need you to tell me the rest of the tale.”

Alex nodded, and took a moment to gather himself and breathe. 

“The thing picked him up and threw him across the room. It just stunned him at first, then it picked him up again and threw him and that knocked him out. We’d done a lot of damage to it, but now it turned back to me. I just kept stunning and pushing it. The fight was so slow because I had lost my damage. Then it finally was dead. As soon as it was, those bat things showed up. I’m sorry. There were too many of them and they just kept coming. I couldn’t kill all of them. I was so tired.”

I wanted more than anything else to hold his hand or hug him, but Satele was in Grandmaster mode and I could see it was for the best for Alex’s state of mind that she keep him focused.

“You shielded your companion and kept them safe.” Satele said. “And I commend you for that.”

“As do I.” I said. “You protected Agent Shan and yourself, and for that I will always be grateful.”

Alex’s eyes were beginning to droop as the medication he’d been given was taking deeper effect.

“Sleep now, Padawan. We can talk more when you wake up.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. I leaned over and kissed him. Satele ran her hand through his hair.

“What a dear boy.” She said. I nodded.

“He killed that creature. He’s ten.” I said. “If he hadn’t used Theron as an anchor, they might both be d..dead.” I breathed to calm myself.

“He only got into that situation because he uses the Force so easily. Another Padawan in that same situation would have waited for more relics to appear. His Force affinity made him feel the relic through layers of granite so that he thought that was the objective.”

“It’s happened before that he didn’t know his own strength.” I said.

She nodded. “He may be young, but it might be time for him to have a Master. I am not sure Academy classes can teach him, when his classmates don’t have the same degree of ability." She paused. "This is why Jedi don’t traditionally have family, Cait. This attachment causes pain.”

No, Satele. You are wrong. Yes. there is pain but taken as a whole, these attachments are so very, very worth it.

“There she is!” A cheerful voice from the doorway before I could reply to her. “Hello, Gorgeous. What have your boys gotten themselves into now?”

“Doc.” I said and was surprised at how relieved I felt that he was here.

“We came as soon as we got your message. It’s a quick trip.” He had a team of three with him, who were setting up equipment I didn’t recognize.

I briefly told him the story and that Alex’s shoulder was torn up and possibly broken. He nodded.   
  
“Well, let me take a look at the graphs. It looks like he’s out, so I can examine him without it hurting.” He put his hand on my cheek. “Just think, Beautiful. He could have been my son.”

I put my hand over his and leaned into it. “Not a chance, Doc.” I smiled. Doc. He smiled back, but for a moment narrowed his eyes speculatively.

“I want to check out whatsisname, my competition, first, though. It’s a little worrisome that he hasn’t woken up yet.”

“I would like to sit with him as soon as they let me,” I said.

“Of course. Let me give him a once over and that should be fine.”

“You’re looking as beautiful as always, Grandmaster Shan.” He said to Satele, who smiled in spite of herself.

“Go away, Doc.” She said, still smiling.

This was one of the best doctors in the Republic. He was my ship’s doctor back when I was in the field. He was a magnet for women of all species and loved them in return. He had flirted with me, as he flirts with everyone. His layer of cosmopolitan bravado covered a brilliant medical mind and a deep caring for people. I happily left my family in his care.

“We must get something to eat,” Satele said. “This may be a long night.”


	5. Chapter 5

CAIT

Satele and I had a light meal in the cantina near the Healing Center. I didn’t want to be gone very long. When we got back, Doc met me in the hallway outside Theron’s room.

“Well, he scrambled his brains pretty thoroughly,” he began. “We are prepping him – I want to take a laser and make sure a problematic blood vessel isn’t going to stay a problem. We have a way to do it without destroying his implants.”

I nodded. Of course. Whatever he wanted to do, I know it would be for the best. 

“Once that’s fixed, a few days and he should be back with us. Oh, by the way, c’mere a minute.” He took my hand and poked me with a blood sampler.

“Ow. Doc! What was that for?” I said, laughing.

“Oh, just checking something.” 

“Something like what?” I said, now truly puzzled.

He walked me into the small room outside Alex’s where he set up his equipment. He had his own diagnostic and medical equipment. He designed most of it himself, saying that he wanted things just the way he wanted them.

Doc placed the sampler into a small machine. He looked at me and smiled, rocking back on his heels while it ran my blood sample. 

"....what?" I asked. 

He looked at the machine's readout.

“Seems that you are in the Motherly way, Gorgeous.” He said, smiling. "I thought so."

“A baby?” I said, surprised and incredulous. But I thought that…

“Well, I guess it’s a baby if Prince Charming in there is the father. Some other species, might be different...but hey, I don’t judge.” 

“But, the carbonite…” I began.

“Apparently you are all fixed from that, or whatsisname is particularly manly. Hard to say. But I will want to write a paper on this, so there will be some more tests. Fair warning."

I was stunned. I didn’t realize I was crying till Doc had enfolded me in his arms and was wiping tears off my cheeks.

“There, there. You are all hormonal.” 

“Doc!” I said, laughing. "You can do all the papers on this that you want."

“Ok, I’m outta here. Gonna go fix your man so you can tell him the good news.”

“Thanks Doc. I love you.”

“Yeah, I know.” He said, kissing me on the forehead and walking down the hall.

THERON

I could see light. It felt like I was coming up from a very deep dive in the blackest ocean. I opened my eyes and blinked. My implants were offline...where was I?

Ok, I'm in a bed, the room is dim. In a big chair pulled close is Cait, sleeping sitting up with her head resting on one hand. Hospital? What the...

"Good to see you back in the land of the living," came a quiet voice. I looked over toward the door to see Doc Kimball leaning on the doorjamb. Ok, so..Coruscant if Doc was here. 

All the sudden the entire scene of our fight with whatever it was in the Temple of Life flooded into my brain. "Alex.." I said.

"..is fine. He's in the cafeteria with fellow padawans chowing down. That kid can eat!"

Cait opened her eyes at the sound of my voice.

"Theron," she smiled and leaned over to kiss my cheek.

"How did we get to Coruscant? What happened?" I asked.

"Still on Voss," Cait said. "Doc made a house call."

"Was Alex hurt?" I asked.

"He was. He broke his shoulder and had some soft tissue damage." Doc said. "He's all fixed now. The Voss are excellent healers, just...I'm better." He smiled. "You scrambled your brains a bit and had a subdural bleed that needed repair. Nothing that messed up your implants, but as you can probably tell, you are offline. You will have to have them reactivated and probably recalibrated. I'm not sure if info memory remained in your recording device, but I bet what you got was pretty amazing if it was. You are chemically pain free, until you get that sorted."

He glanced at a couple of the monitors, and seemed satisfied with what he was seeing. "I'm going to have some of the pizza the kids are eating. I'm starving." He waved and walked out the door.

"So ...what happened?" I asked Cait. "All I remember is this huge..I don't know what it was..and that was it."

"Temple Guardian." 

"Damn." I said. She nodded. "How did we end up in a room with a Temple Guardian? I thought they'd handled that a long time ago."

"So did they. They have no idea how you two found it. Shan, Inc. discovered a hidden room with a relic that is millenia old, that they didn't even know existed. There's a substantial bounty for it."

"Which goes right back to the Temple." I said. She nodded.

"Alex?" 

"He's fine. He was shaken up and felt guilty that you were hurt, but he's been meditating and talking to the Jedi that are on planet. He will close that circle once he talks to you. You need to stay where you are for a few days. Then we can go home."

She explained that Alex wasn't going back to the Academy as a student, that he'd be assigned a Master and would go to whomever that was. The designation hadn't yet been made. 

"The Jedi Council wants to be delicate about it so that Alex doesn't view it as punitive in any way." She was holding my hand, but now got up to sit on the side of the bed.

"He saved your life. When we found you, he was shielding you, leaving himself open."

"You would have been proud and impressed if you had seen him fight that thing. The kid that won't clean his room is one of the best Guardians you've ever seen." I said. "Present company excepted."

"I have more news, too."

"More than our ten year old son killed a Temple Guardian? It must be something incredible."

"It is. We are going to have a baby. Doc confirmed it."

I reached up and pulled her down to hug her. She gently stretched out on the bed so we were holding each other.

"I love you." I said.

"Not more than I love you." She said, smiling. Other discussion could wait.

"Oh. That's just my parents. They love each other, and stuff." Alex's voice from the hall. "Come in, but be quiet. My dad probably has a headache."

Cait sat up, but kept her hand in mine.  
  
"I'm fine!" I protested as Alex leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. A very beautiful Zabrak girl about his age was with him. 

"Mom, Dad, You remember Sarenda," he said. "We were just heading over to spar."

"Hello," the girl said politely. She had been on Odessan with Alex when he was little.

"Your mom has some news," I said.

"Is it about my sister?" He asked.

I looked over at him. "How would you know about that? And it's a sister?"

"Yeah. She's been talking to me. She didn't know who or where she was at first, but now she does. He also tells me about my brother, but he can't use the Force, so doesn't talk to me directly. Dad, I'm glad you are ok. Gram says I need to talk to you about it, but can we do that tonight?"

"Sure, buddy." I said. This was an incredible day.

"We missed Life Day, though." He said, as they left.

Oh no we didn't. I thought.

Cait and I looked at each other. "Twins?" she said. "From no babies to two. I'll take it!"

She lay back down next to me and back into my embrace. 

It's all good.

CAIT'S NOTE

When Alex was two years old, he discovered a hot springs running under Odessan's base that allowed us to create a hot pool for physical therapy and recreation. 

He had gone with Theron on an inspection of a possible spot to enlarge our premises within the mountain. While he and the engineers were chatting, Theron had put Alex down on the floor. He patted the floor and said 'hot'.

Torian Cadera, the chief of the Mando'a Clan Cadera picked him up. Alex pointed at the floor and said "hot!" then patted Torian's armor covered chest and said 'siny!'.

When a full geological survey of the area was done, prompted by Alex's insisting that 'hot and siny' were under the floor, it was discovered that over the hot springs Alex sensed was a sizable vein of Mandalorian iron, _beskar_. Since he had just started talking, he was trying to let us know that the same metal of Torian's chest armor was underground beneath them.

This metal is prized by the warriors due to it's strength, protective properties, and up until this discovery - extreme rarity. It was plenty to outfit the Alliance Mandalorian clans. We handed the awarding of the armor over to Clan Cadera, knowing that it was ritual when it was given and that they would see to the troops being outfitted in a way that befitted their customs.

It had evaded discovery because one of it's properties is that it is not radiosensitive. If you scan for it, you don't see it. You have to dig. This was another reason it was prized for battle armor. It made them tougher to see.

Because of this discovery, Alex was made an honorary Cadera - a 'foundling'. He is almost bilingual in Mandoa'de from growing up around them. When the events in this story were made known, Clan Cadera had a lightsaber hilt made from a bar of beskar they had specifically saved for him.

Torian sent a message to me saying they would present it to him at a clan gathering when he'd earned his lightsaber. In this way, he could carry it always, if he wished, just changing out internal components as time wore on.

The Clans viewed this as his Blooding kill, his sigil would be the Temple Guardian. The Armorer would etch it on the hilt for all to see his hunting prowess, and the honor he showed in protecting his father. He would be considered Mandalorian, should he choose to be.

For, Torian said, _"Tion ke'gyce ner kad al'ijaat?" -_ What guides your sword but honor? 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm having such an excellent time writing Theron as a dad - because I think he'd be a really good one. Not perfect, but fun.


End file.
